CHICAGO —Calling himself a “Trumpocrat” and “freed political prisoner,” disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich addressed the media Wednesday on his first full day of freedom and used the moment as a first shot at redefining his legacy.
Blagojevich, 63, walked outside his home on Chicago’s Northwest Side with his wife, Patti, and two daughters. As he shook hands and hugged well-wishers, he repeatedly dabbed at his chin with a white handkerchief and explained that he cut himself while shaving with a real razor blade for the first time in nearly eight years
“It’s been a long, long journey,” he said. “I’m bruised and I’m battered and bloody.”
In a so-called homecoming address that sounded more like a campaign stump speech, the former Democratic governor painted himself as a public servant persecuted for trying to help people. He insisted he did nothing wrong and did not profit off of his office.
The 20-minute soliloquy included some of the loquacious Blagojevich’s greatest hits. He recited poetry, he told the story of his immigrant parents and compared himself to a boxer, insisting he did nothing wrong.
He also spoke a little Spanish, one of his go-to moves on the campaign trail.
“Every mile I ran, every pushup I did, every book I read, every word I wrote, was my way of fighting back,” he said.
Occasionally choking back tears, Blagojevich said the length of his incarceration could be measured by milestones his daughters marked while he was away. Amy, now 23, graduated from high school and Northwestern University before earning as master’s degree in marketing last year. Annie, 16, was in grade school when her father left and now has a driver’s license.
He urged anyone facing hardship —he called them his “fellow underdogs” —to think of their own families as they deal with their struggles.
“Don’t give up. Don’t give up. Think of the people you love. Think of the people you love,” he said. “You’ll find your purpose.”
Blagojevich thanked President Donald Trump for commuting his sentence five times in the first 10 minutes, calling him “kind,” “smart” and “courageous.” He said his daughters always will consider the commutation the greatest gift they’ve ever received.
He also referred to himself as a “former Democratic” governor, suggesting he no longer aligns himself with the party that helped elect him to the state’s top office.
“I’m a Trumpocrat,” Blagojevich said to cheers from onlookers. “If I have the ability to vote, I’m gonna vote for him.”
Blagojevich is free to vote in any upcoming election now that he’s been released from prison, according to Matt Dietrich, a spokesman for the state board of elections.
“People with felony records can vote as long as they are no longer incarcerated, and as long as they re-register,” Dietrich said.
(EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM)
In a more stunning moment, Blagojevich also thanked his father-in-law, former Chicago Alderman Dick Mell, for supporting his wife and daughters while he was in prison. It was a public olive branch from the ex-governor, who had long blamed Mell for sparking the federal investigation against him nearly two decades ago.
Despite their financial hardships after Blagojevich’s arrest, the Blagojevich family was able to keep their house and send the girls to private school, in part, because of Mell’s financial help.
Blagojevich arrived at his house at Sunnyside Avenue and Richmond Street in Ravenswood Manor in the early morning hours, greeted by a throng of reporters, supporters, neighbors and protesters after pulling up in a white SUV. The former governor was able to catch a late-night flight after being released from a federal prison near Denver late Tuesday, arriving at O’Hare International Airport just before midnight.
Supporters remained Wednesday morning as Blagojevich prepared to speak, adding to a carnival-like atmosphere on the sidewalk. Many had signed a banner declaring “Thanks Mr. President,” while someone else hung a cardboard sign proclaiming “Trumpocrats.”
The obsequious Ronnie “Woo Woo” Wickers made an appearance in his full customized Cubs uniform, an homage to Blagojevich’s beloved baseball team. Another man wore a Blagojevich mask and carried one of the former governor’s old campaign posters.
“Welcome to the circus,” the masked man told reporters and news helicopters hovered above the family’s Mediterranean-style home.
(END OPTIONAL TRIM)
Blagojevich’s 14-year prison term was commuted by Trump in a wave of clemency moves. The long-awaited decision sent Blagojevich home from prison more than four years early, much to the relief and delight of his wife and daughters.
As Blagojevich spoke, the president tweeted about the commutation, again repeating an inaccurate allegation that former FBI Director James Comey helped convict Blagojevich. Comey was U.S. deputy attorney general when the investigation into Blagojevich’s administration began, but he moved to the private sector in 2005 and played no role in Blagojevich’s arrest in 2008.
The president also misstated the reason for Blagojevich’s conviction. The governor was charged with conspiring to sell the Senate seat —along with shaking down a children’s hospital and suburban racetrack —and was arrested before he appointed someone to then-President-elect Barack Obama’s vacant U.S. Senate seat.
“Rod Blagojevich did not sell the Senate seat,” he wrote. “He served 8 years in prison, with many remaining. He paid a big price. Another Comey and gang deal!”
Blagojevich was convicted in 2011 on corruption charges. Trump has said he believed the 40th Illinois governor was treated unfairly when a federal judge in Chicago sentenced him to 14 years in federal prison.
“He’ll be able to go back home with his family,” Trump said Tuesday. “That was a tremendously powerful, ridiculous sentence in my opinion.”
Now 63, Blagojevich had been scheduled to be released in March 2024. Instead, he found himself sleeping in his own house Tuesday night.